Rogelio V. Solis
Yet another lawsuit has been filed against a small-town in Mississippi, its mayor, and former and current officers of the police department with local Black residents claiming cops engaged in systemic Jim Crow-like racial discrimination.
On Jan. 20, 17 plaintiffs in Lexington, Mississippi, and nearby counties collectively filed a civil complaint against the city’s police department, accusing officers of making false arrests, using excessive force, and intentionally trying to kill them.
“[Lexington Police Department’s] tactics against Black citizens are like those recommended for use by the United States Army to quell armed rioters in occupied nations. These tactics are wholly unnecessary on peaceful Americans,” the lawsuit states. “Unfortunately, the excessive force used… is part of a pattern, practice, and custom of corruption, lawlessness, excessive force, false arrests, retaliation, and discrimination visited upon hundreds of Black citizens.”